Mark Cuban wants to create a playoff for Division I-A college football, and he's willing to offer schools millions of dollars to make it happen.

Cuban told ESPNDallas.com he's "in the exploratory stage" of his project. He said he will speak with school presidents and state senators to gauge whether he should go forward. He claims he already has spoken with two athletic directors from BCS conferences about the idea and that they were very enthusiastic about it.

Mark Cuban is trying devise a way to decide the Division I-A football champion on the field. AP Photo

Under Cuban's plan, which he said would take three to four years to implement, the playoff would consist of 12 or 16 teams, with higher seeds getting homefield advantage. Bowl games would continue to be played, Cuban said, but he would offer cash to entice teams to play for a national title instead.

"Put $500 million in the bank and go to all the schools and pay them money as an option," Cuban told ESPNDallas.com "Say, 'Look, I'm going to give you X amount every five years. In exchange, you say if you're picked for the playoff system, you'll go.'"

Cuban said he is reading the newly published book "Death to the BCS," which rails against the current system to determine a national champ.

He sees his playoff idea as an alternative to him owning a major league baseball team. "The more I think about it, the more sense it makes as opposed to buying a baseball team," he told ESPNDallas.com. Cuban tried unsuccessfully to buy the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers. "You can do something the whole country wants done."

The ESPNDallas.com report contained no reactions from the NCAA or school officials.

Division I-A is the only NCAA division that doesn't use a playoff to decide its champion.